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As gas prices in Nova Scotia hover just below $2 per litre, many drivers are feeling the burn after more than two months of higher prices.
“You start to plan your meals better because you have to budget for everything,” Richard Sweeney said in Halifax this week while filling his tank for $1.94 per litre.
Bill Pratt, buying gas at the same station, normally drives a big truck.
“I’m driving this smaller vehicle right now to get around town,” said Pratt. “Unless I need the truck, it stays parked. [The car] costs $90 to fill up, the truck costs $170.”
The price of gasoline hasn’t crossed $2 per litre in roughly four years.
It hit $2 per litre on May 13, 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It didn’t get back under that price until July 7, peaking at $2.18 on June 10.
The price has gone up more than 50 cents per litre since Feb. 20 when it was $1.39 in Halifax. It started after the Iran war began to impact global oil supply.
The federal government suspended its 10-cent-per-litre excise tax in April to keep prices a bit lower.
Colin Robar was a driving instructor in the Annapolis Valley for 15 years. He says that as prices remain high, there are some easy tips to boost fuel efficiency.
“The faster you go, the higher your fuel consumption is going to be. The faster you go past the speed limit, the more fuel you’re going to be burning,” said Robar.
Ari Westhaver is visiting Nova Scotia from British Columbia. Gas prices there have surged past a toonie per litre.
“It’s definitely been challenging,” said Westhaver. “I travel a lot for work, so I do need to factor that into how I schedule my work time.”
Westhaver says, however, that while the prices are hard to deal with, things could be worse.
“It’s a lot harder for folks who are having war waged on their country than it is for me. So I’m just kind of sucking it up.”
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